Navy Plans to Buy 522 ATF Aircraft Worth $20 Billion : Lockheed, Northrop Are Competing to Build Air Force Version of Fighter; Carrier Jet Would be Windfall Bonus

The Navy plans to buy 522 of the Air Force’s Advanced Tactical Fighters, worth about $20 billion, which are under competitive development at the Los Angeles area aerospace firms of Northrop and Lockheed, according to industry sources and Air Force officials.

If the Navy goes ahead with the purchase, it would represent an enormous supplement to the ATF order expected from the Air Force, which is put at about 750 aircraft worth $45 billion (stated in 1985 dollars) during the next decade. The Navy order, including spare parts, support equipment and training devices, could boost the total value of the ATF program to $65 billion, also in 1985 dollars.

The Air Force part of the ATF program alone is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs across the country and certainly more than 10,000 jobs in Southern California. The Navy order would enlarge that employment by an undetermined amount and extend the duration of the program.

The ATF will be the Air Force’s leading air-to-air combat jet when it enters service in 1995, replacing the F-15. The key features to be required of the new jet include the ability to cruise supersonically for long periods of time, great range and improved turning performance. The Air Force also wants substantial improvements in reliability and lower maintenance costs than is the case with the F-15.

Magic Number

Although the Navy will neither confirm nor deny the existence of a plan to buy 522 ATF aircraft, the quantity was disclosed late last month when engineering teams from Lockheed and Northrop made presentations to the Navy in Washington on derivative versions of the ATF for Navy use.

Aerospace industry sources said the number is contained in unclassified documents issued by the Naval Air Systems Command, the aircraft development and procurement arm of the Navy. In addition to the industry sources, a retired Pentagon official familiar with the Navy’s plan confirmed the accuracy of the report and an Air Force official said the number of 522 is correct. Both officials asked that their names not be published.

“I don’t know what is magic about 522, but that is the number the Navy came up with,” the Air Force official said. “It seems like an odd number, but that’s the number (Assistant Navy Secy. Melvyn) Paisley mentioned.”

Navy spokesmen said they could not confirm or deny any details about the ATF even though the Air Force has publicly disclosed much more about its own plans.

“I am sure there is a number, but the program details and schedule remain classified,” a Navy spokesman said.

‘Taking This Seriously’

In March, 1986, the Navy signed an agreement with the Air Force to consider buying an undisclosed quantity of ATF aircraft, while the Air Force agreed to buy versions of a new Navy attack jet. Early estimates of the Navy’s potential orders for the ATF were in the range of 500 aircraft.

The existence of a firm number of planes for the Navy to buy and the recent briefings by contractor teams appear to indicate that the Navy has advanced its plan to buy ATFs beyond a loosely defined concept.

The two contractors submitted technical reports to the Navy in early February. Northrop officials briefed the Navy on its proposal on Feb. 19 and Lockheed met with Navy officials the next day.

“The Navy is taking this seriously,” an industry official in the ATF program said.

The Navy would use ATFs to replace its current F-14 fighter, built by Grumman. The Navy will complete procurement of the F-14A versions this year, having bought 500 of the planes since the early 1970s, a Navy spokesman said. It will then start procuring 300 F-14Ds, which will be completed by 1998. The ATFs would be added to fleet at about that time, the Air Force official said.

A Navy version of the ATF would have to be substantially modified to allow carrier operations. The fuselage, landing gear and wings would all have to be strengthened to withstand the punishing forces created in a carrier landing, which is sometimes compared to dropping an airplane off a four-story building.

In addition, the radar and fire-control system of the Navy version of the jet would likely require changes from the Air Force version, owing to the difference in missiles that the Navy uses, sources said.

Last October, the Air Force awarded $691 million in contracts to develop the ATF to teams headed by Northrop and Lockheed. The two teams will build prototypes of their aircraft and in 1991 the Air Force will select the winning design for production.

Lockheed and Northrop are each employing about 1,000 persons in the current demonstration phase, in which each company is building two prototypes.